The Google Tablet will be a high risk for Google because of the major competitors like Apple, Inc. and Amazon’s Kindle E-Book Reader.
Apple is far superior at marketing then Google. At least that is what history has shown. All we see and hear about is the new Apple products, the new iPods, iPhone’s, and now the iPad. All products directed to consumers, for consumer use.
Unlike Apple, Inc., Google makes its money from B2B rather then B2C. Even though Google products are all geared towards consumer use, they make all their money from businesses buying advertising space. So Google advertises and markets to businesses and not consumers.
We are however starting to see Google market to consumers via partnerships like T-Mobile selling the Android phones to consumers. As more consumers purchase the Google phones like Nexus One and other phones using the Android software, I am sure we will see more advertising directly to consumers from Google.
Google just recently ran a $30 Million Super Bowl ad, which lasted for 55 seconds. It gave a story about how a man found love in France. In a round about way.
So Google is very good at telling stories on a low beget, even though it cost $30 Million to run the add. Anyone with a little computer software could have made this advertisement. There were no actors, images besides the Google search engine and products, and no fancy graphic, just Google searching.
This is important because in order to have Google out beat Apple, Inc. in the tablet PC category, they need to out market them. And telling compelling stories is the best way to do so.
We assume Google’s tablet PC will run the Android operating software by Google. Which means it is similar to Unix or Linux and it will be able to handle flash video, full Internet, and any program a software company wants to write for it. Making it a full use PC rather then just a glorified oversized iPod Touch.
One of the markets biggest concerns with the iPad is the lack of flash video capability. Apple seems to have a huge beef with the flash developer Adobe because of the lack of IT support for its product. But, Apple has a huge point when they say Flash is going to be obsolete very soon. The reason? Simple, HTML 5!
HTML 5 is a new language for the Internet. You can already view HTML 5 pages if your web browser supports it. If you update your browser consistently, then you should have no problem.
The big deal about HTML 5 is that you can load video on a web page without the use of a video player on your website. This is huge! Most website right now, including Google’s YouTube uses Adobe Flash Player to play the videos on the website. Other sites that use flash have menus and options made out of the flash player to play on websites. With HTML 5, programs can now do all this without the expensive, and high file sizes of loading the Adobe Flash Player and the video. Now the website will be able to load just the video without any player being added to speed up the Internet for the mobile devices. This also allows full motion video on web pages for Apple’s iPad.
Google is going to follow suit with the anticipated Google Tablet. Will it beat out Apple’s iPad? Time will tell, Google is a mega company with tons of cash. But so is Apple. Both have marketing geniuses at the ready, but Apple has the edge when it comes to marketing straight to the customers. Experience does count in this game, and Apple wins on that. This will be the biggest risk for Google yet!
